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Gradual Development of Visual Texture-Selective Properties Between Macaque Areas V2 and V4
Gouki Okazawa1,2,3,4, Satohiro Tajima5, Hidehiko Komatsu1,2
1Division of Sensory and Cognitive Information, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Aichi 444-8585, Japan.
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|September 23, 2016
Summary
Researchers explored how the brain processes complex visual textures in areas V2 and V4. They found that the representation of higher-order image statistics gradually develops along the ventral visual pathway, with area V4 showing greater sensitivity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- Complex shape and texture representations are built along the ventral visual pathway (V1, V2, V4).
- The precise neural mechanisms for texture processing remain unclear.
- Higher-order image statistics computed from V1-like filter responses are proposed texture representations in V2 and V4.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how higher-order image statistics are processed in extrastriate visual areas (V2 and V4).
- To compare neuronal responses to textures in V2 and V4 of macaque monkeys.
Main Methods:
- Neuronal responses to thousands of naturalistic textures were recorded in V2 and V4 of macaque monkeys.
- Responses were adaptively explored for preferred textures and fitted using V1-like filter responses and higher-order statistics.
- Responses to spectrally matched noise images lacking higher-order statistics were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Selectivity for image statistics was comparable between V2 and V4.
- Area V4 demonstrated slightly stronger sensitivity to higher-order statistics compared to V2.
- V4 neuronal responses were reduced more significantly than V2 responses when higher-order statistics were absent.
Conclusions:
- A gradual development of higher-order feature representation occurs along the ventral visual hierarchy.
- Area V4 shows a more refined representation of higher-order texture statistics than V2.
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